Even dodging storms and high winds through out the week, the fishing was good with 6 to 12 fish per trip. The creel consisted of chinook salmon pushing 20 pounds, lake trout weighing up to 14 pounds and steelhead, coho and even an occasional brown trout. The best fishing continues to be the 90 to 120 foot of water depth, however there are also fish in in the 135 to 160 foot depth. With the full moon, the bite is best in the mid to late morning and early evening.
The best lures for us are the 11 in Hot Chip and Pro Chip flashers (green/glow, white/glow and white/mountain dew) with Rapture flies (purple No See Ums, green Hypnotist, Green Dude and Frosted Fern). We are pulling these on the downriggers from 60 foot to the bottom and wire dipsy divers at 200 foot and 250 foot out. 200 and 300 copper have produced some nice steelhead and brown trout with Craig's Christmas and the orange Corey Stingrays and 400 foot of copper (also 400 foot with 2 oz dive bomb) are producing with 8 in white bladed flashers and Green Dude flies.
The perch report is good with limit catches south of the Saugatuck harbor from 60 to 70 foot of water. It is difficult to fish this deep water however the report is they are catching 10 to 14 in perch. Yesterday there was some very good catches of perch in 20 foot of water south of the piers. These were not as big as the deep water perch but avg. 6 to 8 in.
Reports from Holland to South Haven is good fishing from mid morning to noon and from 6 PM until dark. If the weather cooperates, we should hold our fish. For information and/or charter reservations, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.